Gwangju City Accelerates Legacy Projects for the 2019 Swimming Championships

Gwangju City Hall

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] Gwangju Metropolitan City is accelerating the legacy project of the 2019 World Swimming Championships.

According to Gwangju City on the 21st, based on the successful experience of hosting the World Swimming Championships last year, the city has been promoting follow-up projects such as the construction of the Korea Swimming Promotion Center and the establishment of a nationwide swimming competition.

First, the Korea Swimming Promotion Center is a facility that will establish advanced training equipment and swimming facilities necessary for the education and training of professional, amateur, and aspiring athletes, supporting recreational sports, training camps, and nationwide swimming competitions. It is a foundational project to rise as the representative swimming city of South Korea.

In December last year, through a public contest among autonomous districts, Nambu University, which was the main stadium of the World Swimming Championships, was confirmed as the construction site. Administrative procedures such as the shared property management plan, approval for building construction on school grounds, and permission for surface rights were completed.

Then, in March and June, a plan was submitted to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety’s central investment review to build a center with a 50m 10-lane pool, a 25m 10-lane pool, and a total floor area of 12,000㎡, with a project cost of 44.6 billion KRW (12.5 billion KRW national funds, 29.1 billion KRW city funds, and 3 billion KRW private funds).

As a result of the review, the city received a reconsideration judgment stating, “It is necessary to re-examine the site suitability considering nearby overlapping facilities and adjust the facility scale considering the demand from professional athletes.” The city plans to prepare a revised plan and request a re-examination at the Ministry of the Interior and Safety’s occasional local finance central investment review in August.

The newly prepared plan involves investing 37 billion KRW (10.2 billion KRW national funds, 23.8 billion KRW city funds, and 3 billion KRW private funds) to build a facility with a total floor area of 8,755㎡, including a 25m 10-lane pool, a 25m×30m multipurpose pool, a sports memorial hall, and advanced training equipment.

Additionally, the nationwide swimming competition establishment project was confirmed at the Korea Swimming Federation General Assembly held in April to commemorate the first anniversary of the 2019 World Swimming Championships, scheduling a championship from July 16 to 20 (5 days) and a Masters swimming competition from July 25 to 26 (2 days). However, considering the spread of COVID-19, discussions are underway to hold the competition in October.

The establishment of a nationwide swimming competition is significant as a commemorative legacy project for nurturing swimming talent in South Korea and expanding the base of swimming sports. It is also expected to play a role in strengthening the status of Gwangju as the representative swimming city of South Korea.

In this regard, Gwangju City plans to ensure the safe conduct of the competition by preparing a detailed response manual, introducing electronic entry logs, and reviewing participant restrictions for vulnerable groups such as youth, given that nationwide events involve large gatherings.

Kim Jun-young, Director of the Culture, Tourism, and Sports Office of Gwangju City, said, “We will do our best to pass the central financial investment review for the construction of the Korea Swimming Promotion Center and highlight Gwangju’s image as a representative swimming city through the first nationwide Gwangju swimming competition.” He added, “We ask citizens to show great interest and support for the city’s commemorative legacy project.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.